Category Archives: writing

Yesterday morning the fog was so thick in our area that you could almost slice it with a knife. Okay… okay I’m exaggerating, maybe… a little, but the fog was thick. It was pretty to me. Of course I didn’t have to drive in it. I like almost all kinds of weather except bad storms and there is even beauty in that. God has a purpose and reason for everything and He controls the weather. Like anything else in our lives we can look for the good or expect the evil; I prefer the good. No I would not like fog every day nor would I want rain every day. I’m just thankful that I don’t control it one way or another.

I’m trying to decide what I want to plant in my spring garden. It isn’t an easy choice since I have limited space. I just always pray that God supplies me with enough to share. And He does. I guess I’m greedy because I want to try everything. Some of the things I plant make it and some don’t. In my opinion that is just part of being a gardener or farmer; taking chances. This past fall was the first time I tried to grow cauliflower and it is coming along fine. I’m sort of proud of it but I believe I will have to wait until next fall to plant it again since we have some very hot summer days which start early in Florida.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have five or ten acres to grow whatever you wanted? Ahhhh… but it is only a dream. At my age I probably would not be able to keep up with that much land. I will just be thankful for what I have and that I am able to work it. We are sort of planning to add two more 8×4 foot raised beds which will double my space so that’s good. I’m thinking maybe I’ll give okra a try.

Thank you for stopping by and until next time I will be pouring over seed catalogs and dreaming of a bountiful harvest. God bless.

RISK Yeah I know that I’ve been showing you my vegetable garden but every now and then I need to sneak in a flower or two. I just plain love gardening whether it is vegetables or flowers. Like I said before I’m a plant collector. The photo above is my ginger blooming. Those little beautiful pearls will soon open to gorgeous flowers.

I had to take the risk to show you because I so want you to see them. Recently I watched a tv show that demonstrated how to get ginger started from a piece you buy at the grocery. I purchased a small piece for seventy cents then I broke it into three pieces and planted those in pots (it was about a month ago.) They sprouted and are about three inches high. I can’t wait to see what their bloom looks like. I’ll take pictures of them growing but I forgot to today.

Okay; on to the vegetable garden. Everything (except the onions) is growing well. I planted sweet peas where the onions were supposed to be and several of them have sprouted.The squash are blooming. We actually had fried squash blooms at supper. They were absolutely delicious.

The pepper plants are loaded with small peppers. They are too spicy for me so I’ll give them away but it is fun to see them grow. And the tomatoes are looking strong and healthy.

As you can see I have been very busy outside and loving every minute. Today we raked and bagged leaves and we’re only half way there. I save some of them in the compost bin but there is just too many to keep them all because we have several oak trees and an equal amount of Laurel Leaf Cherry. And on that note I will say good night because I am so tired. Please come back soon and let me know what you are growing and how it is going. I forgot to show you my pumpkin plants but God willing and Jesus lingers I’ll show you later. And of course my Dutchman’s Pipe vine; the blooms are so wonderfully beautiful. One fell of the vine and I opened it and found seed sooo guess who is saving Dutchman’s Pipe seeds.

I don’t like to use the phrase “Bucket List” because in my opinion it is way over used. I’ll just call my list a Wish List or Dream List but never the less it is a list of places I want to visit. My husband does not like cities so one of my sons usually escorts me to the cities I want to see before I die. San Francisco was on that list and my oldest son took me there a few years back.

This clock is on the old Ghirardeli Chocolate building; can’t you just smell the wonderful delight. I believe the company has moved to another building but when it was there the wonderful aroma filled the air.

San Francisco is a fabulous city with so many things to see and do. When we made our travel arrangements my son told me to make sure to bring a jacket. I thought this strange since it was the middle of July but since he has traveled more than me I did as I was told. Boy was I glad I did the morning we got up early and went to Pier 39.

It was fresh market day and they had everything from beautiful cut flowers to fresh goat cheese. We enjoyed steaming cups of coffee and sampled the warm baked bread and cheeses. The fresh fruit and berries made the perfect dessert.

The post is supposed to be about time and that was one of the most perfect times that I have been blessed to enjoy. The city was great but sharing the adventure with my son made it even more special. If you get a chance to go I highly recommend it and make sure you go to fresh market at Pier 39. That alone will make your trip worthwhile. Yes, I do have a few other places to mark off my list but one day I plan to return to San Francisco.

This clock is across from the pier and you get a tiny glimpse of tents of the market.Time… what a wonderful thing to have and share. Thank you for checking out my post. I usually do not use as many photos but hey TIME… what can I say. I will get back to posting about The Creek but until then I have so many other things to say.

Thank you for stopping by and enjoy the time you are given because God did not promise us tomorrow. God bless.

I have not been doing the Daily Post but for the last few weeks I have tired the Weekly Post. Why? I’ve been busy working in my yard and vegetable garden. But having a life is no excuse for not writing. Everyone has a life, right? I have two manuscripts that I have also been working on sometimes… once in a while… almost never.

You can’t get published if you don’t finish the manuscript! I tell myself this all the time but most of the time myself doesn’t listen. If I ever go out in the yard and walk around I am usually hooked and will be out there for hours. There is always some work needed in my yard and/or garden. I love that work but I also tell myself that I love to write but I am lazy. But I don think lazy is the right word; maybe procrastinator works better because I have good intentions about writing. But you know what they say about good intentions, right?

I am optimistic that I am going to do better and finish those two novels because I have a lot more stories in my head. I just need to stay in the house and work… work… work. I can work in the garden during certain days and save the evenings for writing. I say certain days because housework (I hate it) must also be done.

Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon. Hopefully I will do another post tomorrow. God bless.

Now you might think I’m crazy but I missed Old Red screeching out a crow saying it was time to get up when it was still dark outside. I missed him escaping through a hole in the wire of the chicken pen and scratching in the leaves looking for bugs; and Momma chasing him out of her flower beds and garden. I didn’t miss Pearl as much because mostly she just clucked and stayed in the pen. It seemed we were slowly erasing everything from the farm except our memories. Now our life was the Creek just like all the neighbors. We all struggled to get by but shared what we had and were happy to help anyone in need. Everyone had memories they liked to talk about. When the weather got warmer they would stop by and sit on the edge of the porch dangling their feet and legs over the side and recall better times. Sometimes if Momma was caught up with the laundry she did for the fancy ladies in town we would walk to where people were gathered at someone else’s front porch and listen to the stories. While the grown ups talked the kids played chase or baseball in the street. It had not rained in weeks so the red Georgia clay had been ground by vehicles and feet to a soft, orange powder. Our bases were smashed cans and nobody had gloves. We used a short weathered-gray board for the bat. When someone would slide for a base the dust would swirl and settle over all of us.

As the days grew longer and warmer Momma dug a five gallon bucket of chicken poop from the pen. Then with Daddy’s old push plow she tilted the compost into the soil and made a garden. She planted rows of peas, beans, squash, potatoes and tomatoes. If everything came up and did well we would can them and have vegetables for this coming winter.

Now we slept with our windows open and listened to the crickets and the low hooting of an owl hunting in the woods behind our house. I would look out the window and watch the fireflies darting about in the darkness. A soft breeze slipped in and cooled the room. I was getting to know the survival techniques of the Creek and had come to love the life I now lived. I thanked God for not punishing me for my mean thoughts and selfish actions and promised to try and do better. Then with a heavy sigh I rolled over onto my side and fell asleep.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you come back soon for more tales. God bless.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year. We got to spend Christmas with our oldest son and wonderful grandson. Our youngest son is a minister and could not make it home this year but we keep up the hope for next year. He is working for God and that is what’s more important. Again our oldest son had New Year’s dinner with us. We are so blessed that both our sons are Christians and we all have a close relationship.

Did you make any resolutions? Did I? I don’t know that I would call it a resolution but I do plan to work more on my manuscripts and try to continue my Creek posts.

I went to the beach today and it was wonderful. The water might be a little too warm for some but I thought it was perfect and refreshing. I don’t swim I only go out and dip but that is enough to get wet and stay cool. Yes… yes I know I should have been writing on my manuscript but after all I am retired from my day job so I really must acknowledge my freedom at least once a week by doing something just for fun.

Let me tell you one of my secrets. I believe Coquina Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in Florida. It is never too crowded; maybe because it is not as popular as some of our other beaches like Clearwater Beach. At the parking area there are picnic tables among the Austrian Pines then a short walk over the sand dunes takes you to a stretch of white sand that ends at turquoise water. Simply perfect!

Today the waves were small; nothing big enough to knock you down but just enough so you know you’re at a beach. Some people were parasailing, some boating at a distance and some on jet skis. We are so blessed in Florida to have both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. If we want calm we go to the gulf and if we want bigger waves we take a short drive to the ocean. The best of both worlds.

I’m ashamed I left my camera home today. But I have taken lots of pictures of Coquina in the past and so I’m sharing one with you above this post.

I’m almost afraid to publish this post in fear too many will find my secret and Coquina will become too crowded. But I won’t be selfish; I hope you do visit my beach and you enjoy it as much as I do.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time remember it is all right to take a leisure break at least once a week; especially if you are retire. It will give you more to write about.

I recently read an article that talked about writing being work and I have to agree one-hundred percent. If you think writing a novel is easy then I would think you haven’t written a novel then had to rewrite it and then rewrite it again. Writing is not a hobby or play. It is a job just like any other career. If you want to be successful you must take it seriously. I must confess that I have not taken it as sincerely as I should. I have been just plain lazy and I have no excuses that are acceptable.

So you say “I have this great novel in my mind if I could just find time to put it on paper.” Well, so do I and probably over a thousand others. I know one thing for certain; as long as it stays in your mind it will never become a bestseller. We will never “just find time” we must make time. Remember we all get the same amount of hours in a day the difference is what we do with those hours. How do we manage our time and why can’t we find time to write. I can’t speak for you that is something you will have to do some soul-searching and answer for yourself.

First, I believe that God should always come first in our life. He should have the first and best part of our day. Then we schedule other activities.

I can find all kinds of endeavors to do instead of writing. I say I love to write but now I must search myself and see if that is true. If it is true then why don’t I make more time for it?

One reason could be fear of being rejected. If I don’t finish the novel it won’t be turned down.

Fear of being ridiculed; if this has ever happened to you about something you wrote whether as a child or adult then that fear is real. You never want to subject yourself to it again.

Fear of not being the best. Not everyone can be perfect and there are a lot of novels out there that lack perfection.

Fear of failure. You tried writing before and your manuscripts were not accepted by a publisher. Well you finished it didn’t you? So you aren’t failing maybe you just need to try a different hook.

Pure honest to goodness laziness. I really don’t believe this applies to many or any of us. There is always an underlying reason for our lack of production.

If we really and truly want to write we simply must sit down and put words on paper and forget all the other bunk. So what if others laugh? They ridiculed Noah and look what he did (we’re still talking about it today.) If you must have perfection then keep writing until you achieve it. If your fear is failure well so long as you are putting words on paper you are not failing. There are as many reasons for not writing as there are people who want to write. Each of us must decide which apply to us and do our best to overcome whatever it is. No one can or will do this for us it is up to us to write or not to write. The road to being an author is not an easy one. We hit some huge bumps along the way but we must persevere and overcome those obstacles.

Thanks for stopping by, until next time keep writing and before you know it that novel you had in your mind will be a completed manuscript on paper.

How many times have you heard someone say “I could write a book?” The truth is they probably could however, in all probability they never will. We all have a story or many stories we would like to tell. Nevertheless, what we think would make a great book others aren’t interested in at all. What we do and what happens in out life doesn’t matter a hill-of-beans to the general population. But writers on the other hand will write even if another living soul never reads a word of what we’ve written. We have a drive; call it a burning desire, to tell the stories that are bubbling in our souls. And how do we write? By faith! And we become successful by faith. We all have faith no matter what it is in. My faith is in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I know my talent comes from God.

If you are a Christian you have faith that you are saved. If someone asked you where you will spend eternity you would quickly say “Heaven.” Why? Because, you have faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I think you will agree that salvation is the biggest and most important thing in our lives. And we trust God’s Word when He said “Trust in Jesus and you will be saved.” We know that God doesn’t lie. So let me ask you this? If you trust God for the big thing, your salvation, what don’t you trust Him for the little and every day things? The Bible tells us that God will supply what we need. (Matthew 6:25-34) It tells us that God knows what we need and He has already taken care of it. There are so many verses in the Bible that talks about us having faith. So we know that is important to God. We have not because we ask not. James 4:2

You might ask what that has to do with being a successful author. Everything! If we are to be truly successful we must trust God for our success. And we must trust when we ask that we have received it. No, not that we will receive it but that it is already ours. Dr. Charles Stanley put it this way; small faith says God might, big faith says He will but strong faith says He has. No, God is not some Santa Claus waiting to grant our wishes. He’s more than that! He’s a loving, kind, understanding Father Who loves His children and wants to give them the best. He already gave us His Best, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so why would we hesitate to ask for our daily needs.

You want to be a successful writer? When you sit down to work before you put one word on paper you bow your head and ask God to write through you what He wants you to say. You might say, “Oh but I write Romance Novels, or Suspense or whatever.” Do you thing God doesn’t know romance? He created it. Turn in your Bible to Ruth 2 and read the story of Ruth and Boaz. You want suspense? How about the stories of Daniel, Joseph, Noah, and so many others? Remember God created all things even romance and suspense. Does this mean you will be an overnight success? No. God will never give you what you are not equipped to handle whether trials or riches. But it does mean that when you trust God you will write what He wants you to write. And I can tell you that He will give you stories and you won’t get writer’s block. Oh yes, you can still be lazy and not sit down and write or make all kinds of excuses. Proverbs 6: 9-11 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. But if God has given you the talent and desire to write He will write through you if you are willing to do your part. You will never lack a store house of story ideas. And a good measure is; after each writing session thank Him for sitting and writing with you. You will be so surprised how easy your writing goes.

Remember God has to come first in your life. Matthew 6:33 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Thanks for stopping by until next time keep the faith and keep writing.

One of the things I’ve come across in my writing career is the impatience of other people; usually our loved ones (spouse, children, siblings.) Often when we talk to them they want to know if we are still writing, where we are in the process and how much longer do we think it will take us. This is unnecessary pressure. It can bring our creative juices to a quick halt, or I know it can mine. The one thing an author doesn’t need is more pressure. However, these well-meaning souls usually have no idea what we go through. They think we sit down at the computer and the words just flow from our fingers. Oh, if it was that easy, right? They have no idea how we struggle to show and not tell a scene, to listen to our characters and speak through their voices not our own and so on and so on… Some have even asked “Why don’t you get a real job?” Writing isn’t a real job? Hello!

When I want to tell them to back off I have to think of Noah. Can you imagine the pressure he went through when he was building the Ark? I’m sure that his family, like ours, wanted to know when he would finish and what he was really working on. Maybe they accused him of wasting time. We might take a year or so to write a novel, probably less once we get rolling, but it took him 120 years to build the ark! To put up with people ridiculing you for 120 years had to take some strength. Yes, of course I know that God gives us the strength to do whatever He asks us to do but that doesn’t shield us from the people who are just looking for and hoping we will fail. Yes, He also gives us the strength and knowledge to deal with them in a way that He approves.

Now I know that I’m no Noah but I do believe my love for writing and my God-given talent is for writing, so I have to believe that God will give me the strength to persevere and finish the novels I have started. I need to “Trust in God with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) This means I have to turn my writing career over to Him. I really do try to do this. One thing I have found that helps me is to say a prayer before my writing sessions to ask Him to write the story through me and after the session to thank Him for His help.

Maybe you aren’t a believer in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, if not praying won’t help you with your career. But it is so easy to become a child of God. All it takes is faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ alone. Remember God knows your heart so all you have to do is tell Him you do believe that Jesus came to earth and died as a substitute for our sins. Sounds easy? It is.

I know God gives each of us a talent to make our living but He leaves it up to us to find that talent and develop it and become successful. God takes good care of His children but He will never give us more than we are capable of dealing with whether troubles or blessings.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time keep praying and asking God what He wants you to write and keep believing. Remember what He did for the people during Biblical times He will do for us today if we believe. Oh the stories that I could share but I’ll save them for another time.